Americas
![Dan Richer - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B096PSKKG5.jpg)
![Katie Parla - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B007D2AT5E.jpg)
The Joy of Pizza: Everything You Need to Know
Learn to make artisan pizza the American way in this accessible, informative guide to the perfect pie from the creator of "the best pizza in New York" (New York Times).
Pizza is simple: dough, sauce, cheese, toppings. But inside these ordinary ingredients lies a world of extraordinary possibility. With The Joy of Pizza, you'll make the best pizza of your life.
Dan Richer has devoted his career to discovering the secrets to a transcendent pie. The pizza at his restaurant, Razza, is among the best one can eat in the United States, if not the world. Now, Richer shares all he has learned about baking pizza with a crisp, caramelized rim; a delicate, floral-scented crumb; and a luscious combination of sauce, cheese, and toppings that gets as close to perfection as any mortal may dare.
You'll learn how to make Razza specialties such as:
Jersey Margherita, a new classic improving on Neapolitan tradition with Meatball Pizza, the first time Richer has shared the recipe for Razza's legendary meatballsProject Hazelnut, pairing the rich flavor of the nuts with honey and mozzarellaSanto, topped with caramelized fennel sausage and drizzled with chile oil Pumpkin Pie, a cold-weather pie with roasted pumpkin, ricotta salata, and caramelized onionsAnd many more inventive and seasonal pizzas, from Funghi (mushroom) and Montagna (arugula and speck) to Bianca (white pizza) and Rossa (vegan tomato pie)
Suited to beginning home bakers and professionals alike, these crusts begin with store-bought yeast as well as sourdough starter. Richer shows how to achieve top results in ordinary home ovens as well as high-temperature ovens such as the Ooni and Roccbox, and even wood-fired outdoor pizza ovens.
The Joy of Pizza is rich with step-by-step photography, links to instructional videos, and portraits of every pizza before and after it meets the heat of the oven-so you'll know exactly what to do to create superior results.
The ingredients are simple. The methods are straightforward. And the results are deliriously delicious.
Pizza is simple: dough, sauce, cheese, toppings. But inside these ordinary ingredients lies a world of extraordinary possibility. With The Joy of Pizza, you'll make the best pizza of your life.
Dan Richer has devoted his career to discovering the secrets to a transcendent pie. The pizza at his restaurant, Razza, is among the best one can eat in the United States, if not the world. Now, Richer shares all he has learned about baking pizza with a crisp, caramelized rim; a delicate, floral-scented crumb; and a luscious combination of sauce, cheese, and toppings that gets as close to perfection as any mortal may dare.
You'll learn how to make Razza specialties such as:
Jersey Margherita, a new classic improving on Neapolitan tradition with Meatball Pizza, the first time Richer has shared the recipe for Razza's legendary meatballsProject Hazelnut, pairing the rich flavor of the nuts with honey and mozzarellaSanto, topped with caramelized fennel sausage and drizzled with chile oil Pumpkin Pie, a cold-weather pie with roasted pumpkin, ricotta salata, and caramelized onionsAnd many more inventive and seasonal pizzas, from Funghi (mushroom) and Montagna (arugula and speck) to Bianca (white pizza) and Rossa (vegan tomato pie)
Suited to beginning home bakers and professionals alike, these crusts begin with store-bought yeast as well as sourdough starter. Richer shows how to achieve top results in ordinary home ovens as well as high-temperature ovens such as the Ooni and Roccbox, and even wood-fired outdoor pizza ovens.
The Joy of Pizza is rich with step-by-step photography, links to instructional videos, and portraits of every pizza before and after it meets the heat of the oven-so you'll know exactly what to do to create superior results.
The ingredients are simple. The methods are straightforward. And the results are deliriously delicious.
Editorial Reviews
"What makes this book so compelling and perfect for beginners is that Richer starts with the basics. Perfect your own pizza dough, sauce, and cheese selection before combining them all into creative concoctions... You'll learn how to assess your cheese, measure your cooking temperatures, make your own sourdough, and much more. The Joy of Pizza is beautifully photographed and offers useful tips for beginners and advanced skills for pizza pros."―Cool Material
Home cooks interested in learning how to make pizza from scratch will appreciate this cookbook by rising culinary star Richer... The recipes for different kinds of pizza dough (including sourdough) are worth the price of admission alone, but the book also helpfully includes rubrics for evaluating tomatoes, olive oil, and mozzarella.―Library Journal
"For Dan Richer, the best pizza is not in New Jersey, or New York, or even Italy-but wherever you happen to be. As long as you get your hands on the finest local ingredients and master the art of dough-making, you can produce a truly exceptional pie from just about anywhere. The Razza chef/owner explains this, along with everything else he's learned in his 20 years of making pizza, in The Joy of Pizza."―Thrillist
Home cooks interested in learning how to make pizza from scratch will appreciate this cookbook by rising culinary star Richer... The recipes for different kinds of pizza dough (including sourdough) are worth the price of admission alone, but the book also helpfully includes rubrics for evaluating tomatoes, olive oil, and mozzarella.―Library Journal
"For Dan Richer, the best pizza is not in New Jersey, or New York, or even Italy-but wherever you happen to be. As long as you get your hands on the finest local ingredients and master the art of dough-making, you can produce a truly exceptional pie from just about anywhere. The Razza chef/owner explains this, along with everything else he's learned in his 20 years of making pizza, in The Joy of Pizza."―Thrillist
Readers Top Reviews
JWRroberto beltrami
I really want to like this book as there are some really great pizza topping recipes. The photography is also beautiful. But the organization of the book is lacking and the dough recipe is overly complicated. Then you also have the scan codes throughout the book which may help a more visual learner master a technique but overall, it just a lot of wordy information. Unless you have a lot of time, focus and means to sift through the pages and pages of information, you’d be better off skipping the dough sections completely.
Andrew Young
Pizza making can be an easy thing if you want basic mediocre pizza. You can just pick up some raw dough from your local pizza spot or buy a Pillsbury premade dough, add some sauce and cheese and bake it off. You technically have pizza. Is it great pizza? Maybe its great to your 5 year old so that's fine. You made them dinner and they are happy. Great job. But if you really want to learn to make great pizza and understand how all the parts connect with each other, then you need to buy a book like this. He will explain what makes great cheese and great sauce. He will explain why dough making has different steps and its not just "toss in a bowl and mix and punch down every 30 mins". No. He will explain what makes great sauce and the characteristics to look for in ingredients. But with that said, if you are looking for a book to make all types of different styles of pizza and different doughs for each type of style, etc, this is not the book for you. He goes over the styles he makes in his restaurant (naturally leavened pies, round and square) and thats it. He wont talk about NY style, he wont talk about detroit style. That NOT what his place makes and thats fine. I think if you have read 10+ pizza books in your time, you may learn one or two new things from this book. For me, I bought it b/c i was hyped up over a new pizza book from a really popular pizza spot in NJ. Did I learn a whole lot? No. I make pizzas at least 1x a week for the past couple of years and I learned alot just through trial and error. Learning from reading other books and learning from internet resources (reddit, pizzamaking.com, etc). If you just want to make a pizza for date night, just google and be done with it. You dont need to buy any pizza book to just figure it out. I see some of these other reviews commenting on "its too complicated" or "i dont want to wait 3 days for my pizza dough, i want it tonight". Maybe cooking is too hard for you and you should just order delivery. This book does talk about the science of dough, fermentation, but it is all written in plain English and he explains it all in detail. If reading comprehension is too hard for you, just get delivery.
Burak M
Extremely well written and speaks to all levels of experience whether you are thinking about getting into pizza or you already figured it out one way or another and just trying to expand your skill set. Also impressive how the books guides you through various ingredients and temperature options. Great work and will be a reference book in years to come.
PamelaD.B.
It’s my belief few on this planet could appropriately follow the directions or suggestions outlined in the pages of this book. Possibly might be helpful to professional business owner who went to culinary school and was thinking about making pizza.
